LOVELOCK - The BLM Winnemucca District is seeking "substantive" written public comments until July 27, 2014 as the agency starts assembling a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Coeur Rochester, Inc.'s proposed expansion of its silver and gold heap leach mine about 24 road miles northeast of Lovelock.
The proposed plan of operations amendment 10 modification would expand the mine's leach pad capacity by about 120 million tons of ore and extend the mine's life by five to seven years at full operation and employment according to the BLM. The plan is to expand and raise by 70 feet the existing Stage IV leach pad and build a new Stage V leach pad. Construction of the proposed mine expansion would require an additional 79 contract employees for 12 months, according to the BLM.
Power lines and access roads will have to be realigned including a "minor portion" of the public American Canyon Road. An existing open pit would not change or be expanded. The company is authorized to disturb 1,930 acres including 189 acres of private land and 1741 acres of public land.
According to mine officials at last week's public comment session in Lovelock, increased silver prices support the proposed mine expansion and justify processing of lower grade ore. The federal government approval process, however, is not scheduled for completion until the fall of 2015. Meanwhile, fluctuating precious metal prices can impact future mine development or expansion.
A few residents who attended the meeting expressed concerns over the mine expansion impacts on ground water. Located below the mine near Oreana are municipal ground water wells operated by the Lovelock Meadows Water District serving water customers in Lovelock and the surrounding area.
Coeur Rochester officials replied that ground water used in the Rochester mine originates in a hydrologic zone separate from Oreana ground water resources. Leach process solutions are contained and will not contaminate ground water supplies below or down hill from the mine, BLM and mine officials said.
The BLM's EIS schedule includes public scoping for comments this summer with a draft EIS to be published followed by more public meetings and comment periods this winter. The final EIS should be published in the summer of 2015 with the BLM's Record of Decision published by the fall of 2015.
Since 1986, the Rochester mine has produced over 130 million ounces of silver and about 1.4 million ounces of gold. The mine originally opened in the 1860's as a hard rock shaft mine then became a placer mine due to a lack of water in the area.
The discovery of high grade silver ore resulted in the "Rochester Rush" in 1912 to 1913 and, over the next 10 years, the production of 6.4 million ounces of silver and 52,000 ounces of gold in the Rochester District.
After 1929, mining was intermittent depending on silver prices and by 1951, the Rochester District almost completely deserted according to the BLM. In the 1980's, however, a massive, low grade silver deposit was sold to the Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation of Idaho. After successful environmental permitting, mining was restarted in 1986 by Coeur Rochester, Inc., a subsidiary of the parent company.
Next month, production will start on a promotional video of the mine, its history and the surrounding community including Lovelock with interviews of local government officials. The Nevada Mining Association will produce an interactive video on mining for the Reno airport to include a feature on Coeur Rochester's local reclamation projects that have been "highly noted throughout the mining association" according to Frankie Graham of Coeur Rochester's Human Resource Department.
According to the BLM, Coeur Rochester, Inc. has up to this point reclaimed 85 acres of the Stage 1 leach pad, 447 acres of a waste rock disposal area and 41 acres of exploration roads.
Written public comments on the proposed expansion can faxed to (775) 623-1503 or mailed to Kathleen Rehberg, Project Lead, at 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445. Comments can also be e-mailed to wfoweb@blm.gov with "Coeur POA 10 Project (Rehberg)" in the subject line.[[In-content Ad]]
